Thursday, October 16, 2014

The Eden Project opened to the public in 2001 and attracts almost a million visitors each year but it’s much more than a tourist attraction.

The Project was built on the site of an old china clay pit and created a home for some of the world’s most important plant species.

These plants can be found in a number of different biomes. A biome – sometimes called an ecosystem – is a community of plants and animals that exist together in a particular climate. The two huge biomes at the Eden Project represent tropical and Mediterranean environments and are housed in huge greenhouses made of special materials. A third biome is uncovered and represents the temperate regions of the world.

Scientists at the Eden Project work to ensure rare and endangered plants are cared for and protected. They may even pollinate the plants by hand to ensure the survival of the species.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Its full title is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but you might hear people call it Britain, Great Britain or simply the UK.

The United Kingdom is made up of four countries - England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The biggest island is divided into three countries – England, Wales and Scotland. This island is about 1100 kilometres long and is 480 kilometres wide at its widest point. At its nearest point only the 35km of the English Channel separate it from the coast of France.

England’s capital city, London, is also the capital of the UK. Most of England is lowland although there are upland areas, mostly towards the north west of the country.

Wales is to the west of the island, next to the Irish Sea. Its capital city, Cardiff, is on the south coast of the country. Wales is more mountainous than England, particularly in north and mid Wales.

Scotland is to the north of the country. It consists of two very different regions; the highlands, in the north of Scotland, and the lowlands in the south, on the border with England. As its name suggests, the Highland region is mountainous and sparsely populated. The lowland region is where most of Scotland’s population (just over five million people) live. The capital city is Edinburgh but the largest city is Glasgow.

Across the Irish Sea lies the island of Ireland. Only the north east corner (Northern Ireland) is part of the UK. The rest of the island is a separate country, the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland (population 1.8 million) is a hilly country which boasts the largest inland body of water in the UK, Lough Neagh, at 390 square kilometres.

The kingdoms of Scotland and England were united in 1707. On 18 September 2014, the people of Scotland vote in a referendum to decide whether Scotland should remain in the United Kingdom or become independent.

Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland all have strong senses of national identity.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

I
want to tell you about the reasons why I am going to vote ‘Yes’ on 18th
September. I want to present a positive vision for the future of Scotland as
a normal independent country. I want to remain friends with other nations in
the UK, but increasingly I think Scotland needs to follow a different path
and determine its own future. I firmly believe that only a Scottish
parliament and Scottish government, elected by the people of Scotland, will
act in Scotland’s best interests.

Firstly,
independence would ensure that Scotland gets the government it votes for. For
35 of the 69 years since 1945, Scotland has been ruled by Westminster
governments with no majority in Scotland. The current government is led by a
party that has just one Scottish MP. Scotland overwhelmingly rejects the
Conservative Party at every UK general election, but we still end up being
ruled by Conservatives. That means that policies like the privatisation of
Royal Mail and the bedroom tax are imposed on Scotland even when the majority
of Scottish MPs have voted against them. With independence, the people of
Scotland will be able to decide our own government.

Secondly,
I think we can use the powers of independence to create a more prosperous
Scotland. With the limited powers of devolution we have already had success
in improving Scottish society and promoting economic growth. But the
fundamental economic decisions that affect Scotland still lie with the
Westminster government, and those decisions are not taken with Scottish
interests in mind. The full powers of independence will allow us to harness
our natural resources, our strong international brand and our world-class
industries to help make Scotland a more prosperous country. Having full
control over the fiscal levers means we make choices in Scotland’s interests.
That might mean lowering corporation tax to attract new businesses to
Scotland. It might mean choosing in the future to raise taxes (on the rich or
on everyone) in order to pay for better public services. The central point is
that Scotland will be in control: we can change our tax system to suit our
businesses and our social needs.

Thirdly,
an independent Scotland would be a fairer Scotland. The welfare state set up
after 1945 is under threat. The NHS that we all cherish is gradually being privatized
in England, threatening the money available to support our NHS in Scotland.
The UK welfare reforms like the bedroom tax have brought real hardship to
vulnerable Scots. Independence would mean having the power to build a better
more equal society, where Scotland’s wealth was used to reduce poverty and
provide support for those who need it. An independent Scotland could help
people out of poverty instead of punishing them for being poor. And with
control over the full tax system, we could see a transformation of child care
so that women are free to take up work when they want to and all children
have access to quality care and education even before they go to school.

Democracy,
prosperity and social justice – these are the reasons I am voting ‘Yes’ in
September.

No Voter

I
want to tell you why I will be voting ‘No’ on September 18th. For me, being
in the United Kingdom with a Scottish Parliament means that Scotland gets the
best of both worlds – the opportunity make decisions for ourselves in
devolved public services while benefiting from the security, strength and
influence we enjoy as part of one of the most successful and celebrated
countries in the world.

Scotland
benefits from the strength and international reach of the UK. This means we
have access to a worldwide network of embassies and the full weight of the UK
Government when it comes to promoting trade and standing up for our
interests. The UK is one of the most powerful voices in international organizations
like the European Union and NATO, and one of only five countries with
permanent representation in the United Nations Security Council. As part of
the UK, Scotland can be far more influential than we would be as a small
independent country.

Second,
the UK is a family of nations with a shared history and I believe a shared
future. We benefit from being able to trade freely across the whole of the UK
and benefit from our participation in UK-wide services. We pool and share our
risks and rewards. When Scotland is in any financial or economic difficulty,
the security of pooling our resources with the other countries in the UK
means that any shocks are lessened. An independent Scotland would be far more
exposed. For example, it could never have stepped in to save the banks in the
face of the financial crisis. Sharing risks among a population of over 60
million people provides more security than sharing among 5 and a half million
people. But it’s not just about costs and benefits. We also share common
values and solidarity with citizens in the rest of the UK. I want a
prosperous and fair country for people in Swansea and Southampton as much as
in Scotland.

Finally,
I believe passionately that we should be able to do things differently in
Scotland. That is why we have a Scottish Parliament. We don’t need
independence to protect what is distinctive about our education and health
systems. Nor do we need independence to start to subsidize the cost of
childcare for hardworking parents. All of these things are already under the
control of the Scottish Parliament. We have the security of the UK for big
issues where it makes sense to work together (foreign policy, defense,
financial services, pensions) while having a parliament that can take
different decisions for Scotland so that our public services are designed and
delivered to suit our needs. The Scottish Parliament is very young and has
room to grow. We can do that within the UK. All of the UK parties are
committed to strengthening the powers of the Scottish parliament, especially
to give it more power to raise more of its own budget from taxes paid in
Scotland. This will provide ample scope for Scotland to take a different path
in some areas if that is the wish of the people of Scotland.

I
believe that we should have a fairer and more prosperous Scotland, but I
don’t believe independence is the way to achieve it.

Response to No voters

I
want to respond to some of the points made last week and tell you why I am
still convinced that independence offers the best future for Scotland.

Our
No supporter cites the international strength of the UK. It is of course true
that Scotland will have a different relationship with the world, but I think
this will be for the good. We will not, for instance, ever have to
participate in wars in Iraq or be so close to the United States that we
cannot criticize them. Scotland can instead concentrate on being a beacon for
human rights and equality, much like the foreign policies of Sweden and
Norway. I also expect that our international aid budget will remain as
generous. There is more to international relations than having nuclear
weapons, a large army and a UN Security Council seat.

I
agree that we share common values with those across the rest of the UK.
However, increasingly these are not the values reflected in the UK
Government’s policies. Policies like the bedroom tax would never be imposed
in an independent Scotland. We would have the powers to create a welfare
system that meshed with the tax system in order to support people and
encourage them back into work. The higher public spending required for this
could be met from oil revenues and from economic policies that prioritise
growth, rather than austerity. We know that GDP per head is higher in
Scotland than the UK average. We are a rich country, but we are currently
forced deploy our resources in a manner that ensures rising inequality and a
low-wage economy. Independence offers us the opportunity to change that.

Under
independence, we would have the final say over the shape and direction of our
economic policies. Instead of trying to use devolution to compensate for the
poor decisions taken in London, we could finally start to implement economic
and social policies that are in tune with our values. The examples of the
Nordic countries show that it is possible to combine high social spending
with economic competitiveness. For me, this is a compelling vision and the
referendum gives us the opportunity to start to implement it.

I
am not seeking to break ties with the other nations of the UK completely.
There are many areas where we will work together. Crucially, however,
Scotland will choose to opt in to these arrangements. Sovereignty will lie in
Scotland. We don’t need to wait to see what Westminster may or may not offer
us in the future: we can start to build a better country now.

Response to Yes Voters

I
want to respond to some of the points made last week and tell you why I am
still convinced that Scotland should remain in the United Kingdom.

The
Yes voter stated that independence means that Scotland will always get the
government that it votes for, so it will never again be ruled by
Conservatives. This is a very short-sighted point. Governments may come and go,
but independence is forever. Not everyone voted for the Scottish National
Party, but they are still in power. Democracy does not mean that people
always get what they want. In any case, when there is a Conservative
government at Westminster, the Scottish Parliament has the powers to ensure
that Scotland does things differently. More powers will follow after the
referendum. We need to think about the next 50 years, not just the next five.

The
Yes voter’s two points about a fairer and more prosperous Scotland have to be
dealt with together. On the one hand, she promises a business-friendly
environment with lower tax rates; on the other, she promises increased
funding for public services and a reduction in inequality. We are to have the
public services and inequality levels of Sweden alongside the business
regulation and tax rates of the United States. It simply does not add up.
Just this week, the World Economic Forum declared that the UK was ninth best
country in the world in which to do business. Promises about ‘no cuts ever’
are difficult to believe. On the contrary, the independent Institute for
Fiscal Studies points out that Scotland would have to confront the same
difficult decisions about its finances that the UK currently has to do.
Again, I reiterate the point: the best way to secure a generous welfare state
in the 21st century is to pool resources and risk at the UK level. This is
the surest protection for our public services. You need to analyse very
carefully the arguments of anyone who tells you that the public finances of
an independent Scotland will be so instantly rosy that it can afford both to
cut business taxes and raise public spending. It seems to me that the reality
is at best much more risky and uncertain.

The
idea that the NHS is at risk at this referendum is difficult to take
seriously. Although some NHS services in England are delivered by private
companies (much like GP practices or pharmacies in Scotland), they are still
free at the point of use. Nobody is proposing charging and the greater use of
the private sector in England has coincided with a substantial increase in
NHS funding. There is, moreover, no evidence to support the proposition that
an independent Scotland would suddenly be able to end austerity overnight and
increase budgets for all public services. As it happens, I don’t support
greater use of the private sector in the NHS either, but that’s why we have a
Scottish Parliament, and it has been doing things differently for over a
decade.

Enhanced
devolution gives us the powers we need to tailor policies for Scotland
without having to deal with the problems of trying to reinvent the wheel by
creating new institutions for a Scottish state. Staying in the UK offers and
extremely positive future of further autonomy within the framework of larger
strength.

Monday, August 25, 2014

The Scottish Government sets out its big picture vision of independence in the White Paper, Scotland’s

Future. The White Paper details how in some areas an independent Scotland would be markedly different from the UK now. For example, on welfare there would be a focus on ‘fairness’ and ‘social justice’ with the so-called ‘bedroom tax’ abolished immediately.

There would be comprehensive pre-school childcare to support children’s well-being and enable mothers to return to work. And nuclear weapons would be removed from Scotland.

The White Paper also describes areas where policies would not so much be different from now, but better tailored to the situation in Scotland. An example is economic policy which would be driven by Scottish needs and not those of the South East of England which according to the White Paper attracts ‘jobs and investment away from other parts of the UK’.

And the Scottish Government also expects that an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK would share institutions and develop policies together in key areas including: a sterling currency union, a common travel area without border checks, and shared arrangements between the BBC and a new Scottish Broadcasting Service.

Independence is expected by March 2016, following preparations & negotiations with the UK Government and others, including those on continued membership of the EU and NATO.

No
The UK Government argues in its Scotland Analysis papers that current arrangements serve Scotland well.

They give Scotland ‘the best of both worlds’– powerful devolved government plus the strength and resources of all the UK.

In contrast, Scottish independence would bring economic risks which membership of the UK helps to insure against, for example, supporting Scottish banks through the financial crisis. There would also be additional costs in setting up an independent state’s institutions, and Scotland would have a weaker position in international affairs compared to what the UK offers.

The Scotland Analysis series argues that it would be difficult to run shared institutions between two states whose priorities would differ over time. In one area – currency union – the UK Government has clearly ruled shared institutions out.

The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have each produced separate reports on how devolution could be strengthened if Scotland votes No. There are differences in the reports but the pro-Union parties agree that Scotland should have more powers to set taxes and welfare policies.

Each party plans to put its proposals in its manifesto for the May 2015 UK General Election and to work to put them into practice after that.

In perspective
Neither side in this debate can guarantee what precisely a Yes or a No vote will bring.

On the Yes side it would clearly be possible to introduce new policies in welfare, childcare, or other areas which would be different to those delivered now in the UK, though there would be some question marks over how they would be afforded. And it is possible in principle for two independent countries to share institutions, but this could be complex to negotiate and the UK Government might not want to have shared arrangements. Even if it did, getting everything agreed by March 2016 would be hard to do.

In one area – currency union - the UK Government has said it will not agree shared arrangements with an independent Scotland. The Scottish Government believes this position would change after a Yes vote. But there is no way now of knowing for sure what currency system Scotland would have in a few years time if it voted Yes. Likewise we can’t know before the referendum exactly what a No vote would mean. The pro-union parties have all set out plans for more devolution if Scots vote No. But they have not agreed a single common position on more devolution and would only move towards implementing more devolution after the 2015 UK election.

But we cannot now predict who will win the next UK election and what pledges they will put into practice. With this uncertainty the Scottish Government is sceptical that more devolution would be delivered. In other words voters will not be fully clear before the referendum about what would happen after. They cannot know precisely what would follow a Yes or No vote. Rather, they will need to vote in September on the ability and commitment they see in each side to deliver its ‘big picture’.

Friday, April 18, 2014

We reflect, we vibrate, we are reborn. We exist as ultrasonic energy.Who are we? Where on the great journey will we be re-energized?

Through reiki, our brains are immersed in learning. You will soon be awakened by a power deep within yourself — a power that is internal, non-local. Astrology may be the solution to what’s holding you back from an unimaginable paradigm shift of conscious living.

We are in the midst of an unrestricted maturing of synchronicity that will clear a path toward the quantum matrix itself. We are at a crossroads of passion and yearning. Reality has always been radiating messengers whose dreams are opened by faith.

Although you may not realize it, you are technological. How should you navigate this ancient quantum soup? It can be difficult to know where to begin.

As you vibrate, you will enter into infinite complexity that transcends understanding.

Have you found your circuit? The quantum matrix is calling to you via electromagnetic resonance. Can you hear it? Lifeform, look within and strengthen yourself.

If you have never experienced this wellspring at the quantum level, it can be difficult to self-actualize. Our conversations with other storytellers have led to a condensing of hyper-unified consciousness. Humankind has nothing to lose.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Passion requires exploration. The quantum matrix is buzzing with vibrations.
Yes, it is possible to shatter the things that can eliminate us, but not without flow on our side.

Who are we? Where on the great quest will we be awakened? Throughout history, humans have been interacting with the dreamscape via pulses. We are in the midst of a divine ennobling of faith that will tap into the nexus itself.

As you believe, you will enter into infinite serenity that transcends understanding. Alternative medicine may be the solution to what’s holding you back from an epic current of freedom. Through faith healing, our chakras are engulfed in transcendence.

Today, science tells us that the essence of nature is chi. Balance is the richness of complexity, and of us. We exist as bio-feedback.

We vibrate, we dream, we are reborn. Consciousness consists of electrical impulses of quantum energy. “Quantum” means a maturing of the psychic. Nothing is impossible.

Imagine an awakening of what could be. The future will be an enlightened ennobling of truth. We must bless ourselves and change others.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money... but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it - I will not look for you, I will not pursue you... but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you... and I will kill you.